"You mean it was you, the whole time?" Judy squeaked as she looked at the Serval. "Les, how could you do this? How could you kill those innocent mammals?"

"I did it all for you Judy." He said softly, a sad look in his eyes.

"But why?" She quips out, her voice filled with subtle tinges of hate, sadness, and fear.

"When I was a kitten, the tame collars were still mandatory. That's a curse that even your fox might remember." He sneered, hatred filling his gaze for a flash. "It turned my dad into a violent drunk that beat me and my poor mother. Hell, he was always so shit faced that he didn't even feel the shocks anymore as he took out his rage on us." He mutters, turning and unrolling a set of surgical tools on a table that was placed next to the gurney she was strapped to. "My dear mother eventually found the courage to call the police and my scumbag father was arrested and shortly after the tame collars were abolished so I got to grow up with the relief that I'd never have to wear one. But then the Nighthowler incident came around."

"B-but they never enacted the tame collars during the incident!" She exclaimed as she watched him nervously while he laid out the surgical tools.

"You were gone for 3 months Judy." He replied gently, his voice faltering in the slightest instance. "In that time there were twelve additional cases of predator savagery and the city council was ready to sign the bill; but you stopped it, you uncovered Bellwether's plot and saved us from that atrocity. Every predator in Zootopia owes you a debt whether they realize it or not."

"I was only doing my job Les." She replied, tugging against her restraints lightly.

"Be that as it may, I never thought I'd be able to repay you for saving me…until now."

"What do you mean?"

"I was heartbroken to hear you lost your legs but I realized there had to be something I could do. Something better than those ungodly prosthetics. Judy, each of those mammals I've killed had a purpose, they've let me find a way to give you your legs back!" He said as an excited smile appeared on his muzzle. "I've even found a donor for you! She's a perfect match!"

Her eyes went wide and she shook her head as she tried to pull from her restraints again. "Y-you're insane!" she yelps.

"I-I know it looks that way, but I can do it! Just try and sit still Judy, I still need to prep-" He was cut off by the dull thud of the breaching charges far in the distance. "We don't have much time…"

Nick's eyes were darting everywhere as his nose twitched rapidly, desperately gripping onto the faint scent of his beloved. At first his clearing team stuck with him in hopes of finding something but gradually they began to trickle out to the staging area until it was only Nick and Bogo left in the large building.

"Wilde, I don't think she's here anymore." The chief said with a gust of air escaping his lips, more of a wave of wind than what one would consider a sigh.

"I know she's here. The scent is too fresh and I can smell her fear." He said as he walked into the warehouse area.

Something was off and her scent was definitely stronger here than anywhere else. He noticed an old bi-plane sitting in one corner of the large building, definitely in some stage of restoration but what was odd was that a dim light was coming from the maintenance pit underneath the plane. Most would probably write it off as walkway lighting but Nick walked towards it and looked in, finding a small door with a light over it. The door was just barely big enough for a mammal Nick's size to fit through, he pulled it open slowly, pointing his weapon into the dim hallway.

"Sir, she's down there." He said plainly as he took off his helmet and magazine belt and dropped them on the ground next to his weapon.

"Wait for me to get back up here. I don't want you in there alone."

"Sir, frankly we don't have time to wait. If he is going to do what we think he is, the fact we just went in here with breaching charges means he's not going to be wasting time. Send them in behind me, tell whomever that I want him alive. He's going to rot away for what he's done." He said and pulled out his tranquilizer gun and started down the hall, leaving Bogo to snort in frustration.

The hallway was dark and damp, but he had the benefit of good night vision, a usual trait of the predator species. The tunnels themselves must have been used back during the alcohol prohibition given the age of the building. They had a few twists and turns before they ended up at another door, one where Nick could pick up Judy's scent muffled with scent of surgical cleanser. He slowly pushed it open, his one remaining weapon, his handgun held at the ready and he was greeted with two surgical gurneys, each one with a grey furred bunny strapped to it and between them stood Les, holding a syringe of a bright yellow liquid close to Judy's throat.

"Nick!" Judy yelped. She had a look of sheer terror in her eyes while the other bunny seemed too weak to have much of a reaction other than a look of surprise and relief at his presence.

Nick held up his tranquilizer gun and pointed it at the serval. "Les. Put it down. It's over."

The smile that Les gave him was nothing short of casual, the warm smile one might give to a friend one might not have seen for a long time. "Remember Blue Mist Detective? I found out that you can get its effects in other ways too. Like injecting it for instance." He said, pressing the syringe closer to her skin. "I know how your tranquilizers work detective, i'll have more than enough time before it kicks in to inject her with this, it's enough to keep a buffalo down for a week. I have no idea how this much would affect a small bunny like Judy here, but this is the only tranquilizer in my possesion strong enough to make sure she feels no pain. bunny. What'll it be Detective Wilde?"

"Shoot him Nick!" Judy yelped. "He's going to kill her!"

"Not another step Wilde. I'll do it!" Les snarled.

Nick's finger tightened on the grip of his tranquilizer gun. He knew Les was right, the darts, while being the latest technology and drug formulas, still took a minimum of 2 minutes to completely incapacitate the target, the first 2 minutes were just a progressive loss of motor skills and conciousness which was definitely enough time to inject Judy with the substance. He growled but still refused to lower his weapon.

"Les, listen to me. You're already in deep shit. Attempted murder of an officer won't do you any favors." Nick said.

"Yeah, well it'll keep you busy long enough for me to run."

Before Nick could respond, the door swung open behind him and Jack stood there, a tranquilizer gun of his own leveled at the serval.

"ZBI! Surrender now!" the bunny said and stared down the larger predator.

"Jack, that syringe is full of a psychotropic compound. We don't know what injecting it does and that's a dose supposedly big enough for a buffalo." Nick said plainly, not taking his eyes off of Les and Judy.

Jack's eyes went to the syringe and back to the serval. "We need to take him down!"

"Yeah bur unfortuanetly your Jackal friend isn't here. He'll have dumped the dose into her before we can get close."

"Well we can't just stand here!" Jack hissed and tightened his grip on the trigger."

"Jack, NO!" Nick yelled and reached for the gun but it was too late, the dart was flinging through the air and lodged itself in Les' Shoulder.

The serval gave them an evil grin and jabbed the syringe into Judy's neck, making her yelp as he pressed the plunger before collapsing to the floor. Nick ran over and scooped Judy in his arms who already had her eyes glazed over and drool trickling out of her mouth.

"Judy! JUDY! Carrots, Baby, please stay with me!" He whimpered. "Jack! Get the other Bunny!" he shouted and took off down the hallway, running as fast as his legs could carry him.

He ran past a confused looking Bogo who immediately followed after him. "Sir, we need to get her to the hospital, now!"

Bogo nodded and pulled out his radio. "Have my squad car ready, we have our VIP. She's critical, call the ER and tell them we're coming!"

When Bogo's squad car squealed to a stop in front of the hospital Judy had stopped breathing and Nick spent a portion of the drive doing CPR to keep her heart going. Fortunately, the trauma team was prepared and had a crash cart, trauma team, and a gurney ready for them and they immediately went to work the minute Nick laid her on the gurney. By the time they reached a room, they already had her intubated, an IV drip inserted into her arm, and probes on her chest and head that were hooked up to a computer to keep her vitals monitored.

Nick refused to leave her side, holding her paw in his for the past two hours as tears streamed down her face. He hardly noticed when Lulu entered the room, clutching a medicine pouch to her chest.

"Detective Wilde?" she asks in a gentle voice.

He turned and gave her a tired smile. "Oh, hello Miss Sikya'tavo. F-forgive me, I'm not exactly up for company."

She smiled gently. "I was called by Bogo, he told me that you saved Shophan. He also told me that Detective Hopps was hurt. If you'd let me, I'd like to pray over her and ask the spirits to aid in her healing."

Nick seemed to mull it over and nodded. "Y-yeah, I think she'd appreciate that." He said gently.

Lulu smiled and gracefully walked to the opposite side of the bed from Nick. "I made this medicine pouch for her. It'll aid in her spirit and help anchor her to this world." She said as she took the pouch and, very gently, she placed it against Judy's chest before placing one paw on Judy's forehead and other hovering over the pouch.

"Mother Elo-hi. Please watch over your daughter as she undertakes her journey back to us." Lulu began, eyes closed her head raised towards the sky. "Please call out to her, help her to find her way home and to ignore the call of death spirit." She finished, dipping a finger into a red powder that she held in a small pouch and drawing a small vertical line on Judy's forehead before she turned to Nick again. "She has a strong spirit. I have faith that she will return to us."

Nick was certainly awed. He was never a spiritual mammal, but the level of care that the shaman showed for someone who was essentially a stranger was certainly amazing to him.

"Thank you. That means a lot, thank you." He said softly.

Lulu smiled and stroked his paw. "You're a source of strength for each other, don't ever take that for granted. May Mother Elo-hi bless you both." She said giving a bow, quietly making her way out of the room and leaving the pair to rest.

Most of the night was uneventful, Judy's vitals remained stable though despite the fact that her brain activity was still off the charts. Doctor Rusa, who was assigned to Judy told him the brain activity was because she was under a powerful hallucination, not unlike a coma dream.

He spent a lot of time talking to her, telling her to follow his voice, hoping that she'd wake up. At first Doctor Rusa insisted that he'd try and get some sleep, even offering the hospital bed in the next room or even bringing in a cot, but he refused to sleep. He didn't care how tired he got, she needed him by her side and he would spend every waking moment of his being by Judy for as long as it took for her to wake up.

By the time morning had come, her brain activity seemed to settle some but she remained unconscious, which was worrisome to Doctor Rusa. To make matters worse, a meerkat and a warthog each dressed in black suits arrived at Judy's room.

"Detective Wilde?" The meerkat spoke

Nick looked up at them and his ears folded back, already having a good idea of why they were here. "Yes?"

"My name is Agent Timon; I'm an agent of the ZBI and this is Detective Pumbaa from the ZPD Internal Affairs Bureau, we'd like to ask you a few questions in regards to your altercation with Agent Savage and Agent Ceptos."

Nick sighed and nodded. "Okay. Go ahead."

"We'd feel better if you came with us and had your lawyer or union representative present." Detective Pumbaa said.

"Is this the formal inquiry or is this preliminary?"

"We're merely investigating at this point pending a formal hearing. We want to hear your version of the events."

"Then no need for my rep. I want this to be over and done with."

Timon sighed and nodded. "Very well." He said and set out a tape recorder and pressed the record button. "Detective Wilde, please recount the events that transpired between you and Agent Jack Savage before Agent Ceptos' intervention."

"The case that myself and Detective Hopps was assigned to was a stressful one and pushed everyone to the breaking point in the department. When I arrived home to find that she was kitnapped, I was sent over the edge, a combination of jealousy, worry and stress resulted in my arrival Agent Savage's office and subsequent assault, I had the gall to pull my firearm on him before I was dispatched by Agent Ceptos. I was emotionally compromised by the whole situation and was extremely out of line so I will take whatever punishment that is felt to be just."

"You don't wish to file any charges against either agent? You were injured far worse than either of the Agents." Pumbaa asked, his head tilting to the side quizically.

"No sir. For both Judy's and my sake, I just want this to be over and done with as soon as possible."

Timon clicked stop on the recorder. "Thank you for your time Detective. I'm frankly a little surprised by your candor given the seriousness of the charges but I can appreciate why. We'll be in touch."

Nick watched as they both left and returned his gaze to Judy. "Please Carrots. Come back to me." He whispered and rested his head on the bed next to her.

He was awoken in early evening by a sound coming from Judy, almost a gagging sound. He sat up and looked at her. She was still asleep but was visibly coughing around her breathing tube. In a panic, he mashed the nurse call button before he ran into the hallway.

Fortunately, a nurse and Doctor Rusa both were quick and were already jogging to the room.

"What's happening?" Nick asked, the worry very obvious in his voice.

"Don't worry Detective. She's finally breathing on her own and with any luck, she'll wake soon." Rusa said as she carefully pulled the tube free of her mouth.

He breathed a sigh of relief and sat next to her again, taking her small paw into his. "How soon do you think?"

Rusa set the tube on the surgical cart the nurse had wheeled in and picked up the chart from the foot of the bed to jot down her notes. "Hard to say really, could be a few hours, could be a few days but her breathing on her own already is a good sign. Don't worry Detective, we'll take good care of her."

He nodded and sighed only to smile when he felt a small squeeze from her paw.

He seemed to have nodded off again but was awoken by Judy stirring next to him. He sat up slowly placed a paw on her shoulder.

"Judy, sweetheart? Can you hear me?"

Her eyes clenched, then slowly but sure they cracked open and she let out a hoarse groan. "N-Nick?"

Tears welled in his eyes and he smiled. "Hey Carrots, welcome back to the land of the living."

She tried to sit up but he placed his paws on her shoulders to hold her down. "Not yet sweetie, you've been through a lot."

"What happened?" She asked, her voice little more than a dry whisper.

"Les injected you with a massive dose of blue mist. You've been in a coma for a couple of days."

Her eyes went wide. "L-Les! Did you get him?"

"Don't worry Carrots, he's behind bars without a functioning pair of arms. Agent Savage and Agent Ceptos agreed that a criminal of his precision shouldn't blessed with those tools. Word has it Agent Ceptos snapped them like twigs, you just relax and focus on getting better okay? He got what he deserved."

A few days after Judy had awoken, Nick was back at the ZPD, not in a full working capacity but as an advisor to the duo of agents as they wrapped up the final details of the case. They had gotten a full confession from Les after some questionable interrogation techniques administered by the agents. His sole reason for his actions was that he wanted to make Judy perfect again.

Once the case was closed and the justice system took over Nick stood in the auxiliary office at the ZPD, watching the two agents pack their things. Jack set a box down and walked over to Nick.

"I can see that you really do care for her Wilde. I know it doesn't mean much coming from me, but you have my blessing. Take care of her, because if you don't, you've seen what Ceptos and I are capable of."

Nick chuckled. "Don't worry. I won't make the mistake of being on your bad side again."

Jack smirked and picked up his box. "Good. Alright Anthony, we got to get back to headquarters."

The Jackal nodded, taking off his pair of black glasses and tossing them to the Fox. His red eyes were in full visible light now, and from his throat escaped a gruff, "Keep them, my personal gift from me to you as an apology for our altercation earlier."

Nick caught the glasses in his hand. They appeared to be crisply shined, almost gleaming in the light of the ZPD auxillary office. "Thanks buddy."

The agent merely threw a peace sign back at the fox and began to walk away with Agent Savage, their ride was almost here.

It's been a few weeks since the incident and Judy had finally been allowed to go home. She still suffered some side effects from the drug, some wooziness, lack of balance, some slowness to forming a thought, but otherwise seemed to be okay. Despite being confined to a wheelchair for awhile she insisted on being at the precinct when Nick went in for his meeting with Agent Timon and Detective Pumbaa. What was worrisome to her, though, was how long they were in there, the meeting already in its third hour. She occupied her time by gossiping with Clawhauser and catching up with some of the news about her colleagues. In fact she was in mid conversation with the portly cheetah about a juicy romance rumor between the chief and the lovely mare that was in charge of records when she spotted Nick coming down the stairs followed by the meerkat and warthog, a new pair of glasses she hadn't seen before clung to his face.

She waved farewell to Clawhauser and went over to him. While he had his signature smirk on, she could tell that meeting went about as well as he could have expected. She waited for him to shake his paw with the two officers and for them to leave before she spoke.

"How'd it go?"

"Well, I'm on a four week suspension and then on my return I am to be demoted back to being a beat officer. Apparently me being honest about the situation gave me some points and saved my job. I'll be eligible to reapply for my detective badge in two years."

"It could have been worse I guess." She said, pulling him down to hug her.

"True, very true." He said with a defeated chuckle. "I did pass by the sergeant on my way to the meeting. She says you're not to step foot in there until you're back to one hundred percent or your fired."

"After all this…I could actually use a break." She giggled.

Nick gasped and looked her in the eyes, pressing a paw to her forehead. "Who are you and what have you done with my Judith Laverne Hopps?!" he yelped and laughed.

She smiled and punched him in the arms. "Come on Slick, I'm hungry."

He smiled. "After the hospital food, I can't blame ya. I know a great place in Sahara square that we could get some grub at!" As Nick headed out of the ZBI lobby his new pair of shades gleamed in the light, faintly shining for a moment as he made his way down the street with his beloved bunny.

~End